WEN WONDERS... about the Farmers Market

 Pollinators at Risk...bees, butterflies and other pollinators are declining worldwide

Disturbing evidence shows bees, butterflies and other pollinators are declining worldwide - a serious threat to flowering plants and most food crops. A number of agricultural crops are almost totally dependent on honey bee pollination (90-100%), including almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, kiwi fruit, macadamia nuts, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, onions, legume seeds, pumpkins, squash, and sunflowers. Other specialty crops also rely on honey bee pollination, but to a lesser degree. These crops include apricot, citrus (oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, etc.), peaches, pears, nectarines, plums, grapes, brambleberries, strawberries, olives, melon (cantaloupe, watermelon, and honeydew), peanuts, cotton, soybeans, and sugar beets.   Edited Excerpt: Earth Day Report by Captain Paul Watson

Beekeeping in the urban environment aides the biodiversity and pollination for plants found in the urban garden and community and public gardens. Add to that the help that is needed to offset the devastating effects of the nationwide honey bee colony collapse which is causing a catastrophic disappearance of honey bees, you could say we need urban honey beekeepers.

About one third of the American diet comes from crops that are pollinated by honey bees. Our food chain faces serious harm and must be protected.

Honey bees are docile by nature and can be kept safely in urban areas. Beekeepers should complete a beekeeping course of study to insure hive management techniques that will maintain a gentle colony of bees.

This video is an 8th grade project on pesticides, and talks about growing your own food organically.  While this video is classified as a comedy, it addresses a very real issue and includes an authentic news clip about studies being done at U C Davis on organically grown produce.

Shopping at your local farmer's market is a positive step in taking charge of your food choices.  It will have an impact on your personal health and the economical health of your community as well as that of the local farmer you support.  So get up and get out to your local farmer's market.  You'll be glad you did.

Living in holy balance with the Earth... The industrial revolution has succeeded in separating us, from each other and from the Earth. This video is an experiment in backyard sustainability. Learning how to feed ourselves and save ourselves in our own backyard.

Every year the farmer's market springs up from the snow and mud and breaths life into the community with young plants, flowers and a promise for another year of agricultural prosperity.

My personal heartfelt gratitude to and for all the family farmers, who rise early and bed late, taking significant financial risks to provide quality food to their communities. I salute them, every day, for their commitment to the land and all its creatures, big and small.

Shopping at your local farmer's market is a positive step in taking charge of your food choices.  It will have an impact on your personal health and the economical health of your community as well as that of the local farmer you support.  So get up and get out to your local farmer's market.  You'll be glad you did.